Sunday drivers!!

Heysham Obs
.....left me little time to cover the incoming tide as the efficient midweek Crook-of-Lune-Slyne rat-run was transformed into a second-gear Sunday brake-light fest, along with a predictable shambles at Halton mini-roundabout. This latter location needs its own highway code (or ten commandments, as a lot of the miscreants seem to be churchgoers)

North harbour wall
Med gull - ad
Twite - 24
Red-throated Diver - 1
Shag - 1

Half moon bay/nature reserve
Redwing - flock of 85 south at 1030hrs
Redwing - 13 on the tank farm late afternoon

Observers: Malcolm Downham, Alan Draper, Pete Marsh, Mark Prestwood

Elsewhere
6 Hawfinch Woodwell. 3+ Waxwing NE Warton with 9 two hours later near Cotestones.....which flew back towards Warton. Displaced wildfowl included 60 Shoveler on Holmere & a further 30 on Pine Lake. Rough-legged Buzzard reportedly seen from the Lower Hide early afternoon, before flying 'into the wood'. Hooded Crow Stock-a-bank mid-afternoon but very mobile, solitary and wary. 8 (+?) Whooper Swans in the usual location between Melling and Gressingham bridge. 4 Bittern seen from Lower Hide at the same time this early afternoon, but no sign of the supposedly proximate RLB by this observer.

Record count of Ravens

Sorry Malcolm, the wrong part of the vari-focals was looking at your text & mistook 7 for 2!

Looks like we're heading for our 50,000th hit today (since December 2006) - not bad for a recording area which couldn't even muster a YBW this autumn and now competing for attention with hundreds of other birding blogs, albeit mainly personal rather than aimed specifically at a recording area.

Heysham Obs
North harbour wall
A careful search at low tide in clear calm conditions produced:
Red-throated Diver - 3 in Cumbria i.e. miles away!
Eider - 7+5+1
Mute Swan - 6 imms 'in'
Meadow Pipit - 2 'in-off' (unexpected)
Med Gull - ad offshore
Finches - food all frozen - no birds

Harbour/wooden jetty
Purple Sandpiper - one under the wooden jetty on rocks
Shag - one on the stanchion next to the waterfall (SW corner harbour) & anothe by the end of the wooden jetty
Guillemot - one close inshore as the tide started rising

Middleton IE
SEVEN Raven flew over
Fieldfare - 18 (rare outside the autumn passage period here)
Redwing - 25
plus: Water Rail (1), Snipe (2), Moorhen (9), Coot (8), Mute Swan (2) in mainly frozen wetland area

Observers: Malcolm Downham, John Wood and Pete Marsh

Elsewhere
Hooded Crow 0940 hrs in field above conifers west of Quernmore Church cSD516604. Rough-legged Buzzard photographed early afternoon at Leighton Moss but only available briefly. No Waxwing reported locally for today, but c5 Carnforth Booths yesterday and c13 at Hornby/Butt Yeats on Thursday

A bit of coastal coverage

South Harbour Wall seawatch 0935-1030 hrs
Red-throated Diver 2 'in'
Guillemot 2 'in' one landing on sea.
Med Gull - adult off outfalls
Shag - 2 juv harbour intake

Sea 1205-1235 north harbour wall
Purple Sandpiper - on lower tier of wooden jetty
Med Gull - two adults (including Czech bird) to bread
Red-throated Diver - one out - the only non-gull in 30 minutes!
Linnet - one at seed
Goldfinch - one at seed

Ocean Edge foreshore
Dunlin - 520 off south end
Twite - 67, but could not check for rings
Wigeon - 67

Office
Cormorant - 1 South
40 Plover sp, presumed Golden, high to the south first seen towards Heysham Head (1107hrs).

Observers: John Wood & Pete Marsh

Elsewhere
Hooded Crow by Stock-a-bank again at least 0845-1100hrs, but not later in the morning. Osprey reportedly over M6 by Carnforth junction (Birdguides)!

Minimalism

Heysham Obs
A very brief visit to the North harbour wall saw:

Twite - c22
Linnet - c2
Med Gull - ad

Elsewhere
Hooded Crow still by Stock-a-bank - all sightings have been in field at the SE quadrant of the cross-roads but has been absent for up to 1.5hrs. Waxwing along the cycle track just norht of Barge's depot at c1015hrs. Chiffchaff, possibly a N/E bird, Freeman's wood. Purple Sandpiper Morecambe Stone Jetty. Small CWM at High Tatham with 420 Fieldfare west & two flocks of c100 Starling.

Nuthatch over

Heysham Obs
A major Heysham rarity in the form of a Nuthatch over the car park at 1000hrs (Emma Garston)

North harbour wall
Med Gull adult
Twite - c15
Mute Swan - 1+2 'out'
Great Crested Grebe - 2
Red Breasted Merganser - 4
Wigeon - 83 off S2O

Wooden jetty
Purple Sandpiper on the rocks

Office
Coal Tit 2
Bullfinch M
Crow 4

Observers: John Wood, Emma Garston & a.n.o.

Elsewhere
Hooded Crow, probably the one seen at Birkbank a few weeks ago, in a field with other corvids at Quernmore today. It may have been displaced by snow cover from a more obscure area, hence no interim reports. A singleton at 1310 and then 6 at c1500 Waxwing at Carnforth Booths today. Purple Sandpiper Stone Jetty area. 3 Scaup off north Morecambe/Bare seafront at high tide.

A broken ankle day

Heysham Obs
Jean out of action (slipped on ice and broke ankle) so is anyone able to help with WeBS gaps - one Fylde coastal stretch and one Lune stretch?

Thursday morning looks interesting. It looks like Pete will be snowed in at High Tatham, but more coastal observers may be able to go on the prowl with the name of the game being any cold-weather movement.


North harbour wall
One Ad Med but no Knot on heliport

Elsewhere
One Waxwing at Carnforth Booths at 1400hrs.

No Waxwings in the recording area suburbia

Heysham Obs
North Harbour Wall
Whooper Swan - 0915 hrs 12 North - 8 ad + 4 juv
Shag - Juv stanchion in harbour
Great crested Grebe - 2 offshore
Med Gull - at least one adult around
Pink-footed Goose - 1000 hrs 117 South picked up a long way out towards Flookburgh + c60 South way out of Bay towards Walney.
Purple Sandpiper - 1020 hrs 1 on rocks below wooden jetty as tide was rising.
Common Scoter - male 'in' 1024 hrs
Linnet - 5 on mound which has a lingering smell of diesel
Twite - 6+ in flight

Office
Starling - 8 South
Bullfinch - male over into Tank Farm area.

Timed tetrad visit in SD46A=top section of the recording area
Subtitled: Waxwing search of Heysham suburbia. In this respect it failed, but lots of nooks and crannies were located, including quite a lot of Yellow-browed Warbler habitat. The tetrad includes the coast from about half way down the north harbour wall to the start of Sunny slopes - the count was done at high tide. The following were seen/heard in the two hour slot: Great-crested Grebe (1), Sparrowhawk (1), Kestrel (1), Peregrine (1), Water Rail (1), Moorhen (3), Oystercatcher (5,100), Ringed Plover (4), Lapwing (2), Knot (6,000), Curlew (1), Redshank (44), Turnstone (13), Med Gull (1), Common Gull (17), Black-headed Gull (82), Lesser Black-backed Gull (5), Herring Gull (12), Great Black-backed Gull (1), Feral Pigeon (10), Woodpigeon (3), Collared Dove (22), Great-spotted Woodpecker (2), Meadow Pipit (1), Pied Wagtail (3), Wren (13), Dunnock (22), Robin (42), Blackbird (89), Song Thrush (4), Redwing (9), Mistle Thrush (4), Goldcrest (3), Long-tailed Tit (51), Coal Tit (4), Blue Tit (29), Great Tit (11), Treecreeper (1), Magpie (39), Carrion Crow (7), Starling (111), House Sparrow (161), Chaffinch (25), Greenfinch (8), Goldfinch (3), Bullfinch (2), Reed Bunting (1).

A promising Waxwing area, berry-wise, is the southern end of the new Mossgate estate near the NHS building on Plover Road. The Reed Bunting was odd - calling from some waste ground on its own - similarly, another small area of 'rataside' held the Meadow Pipit. The House Sparrow were in 7 largish concentrations around the older (a relative term) properties with many areas devoid of them. The drive on to Heysham 'Headland' suggested the private notices applied to all bird species. Not one of the Dunnocks was seen, indicating the importance of calling birds.

Observers: Pete Marsh & John Wood

Elsewhere
Just some late news so far on 10 Waxwing in Hyde Road, Torrisholme at midday yesterday - none during brief visit today, but a few berried trees around. 7+ Waxwing Black Dyke Road, Arnside today (report of up to 40 yesterday). 2 Waxwing at Carnforth Booths at 1430hrs but not at 1515hrs. [Two Cattle Egrets at Preesall, Fylde, outside the area, on Sunday - see photos on LDBWS site] and one Cattle Egret reported via Birdguides as being in the Leighton Moss roost at 1620hrs this evening (& 18 Little Egret)

A flattish calmish sea yields very little

Ad Med on the NHW railings this afternoon. Thanks Gavin.

Heysham Obs
North harbour wall
Red-throated Diver - one in, one close inshore
Med Gull - two adults around
Pink-footed Goose - 120 north then back south
Twite - 19 in afternoon, one with autumn 2004 ring (Ocean Edge birds - see below?)
Linnet - 3 (getting late for this species in this area)

South harbour wall
Red-throated Diver - 1 in 1145 hrs
Pink-footed Goose - 53 North well out over Bay
Shag - one on the stanchion in the harbour

Red Nab/Ocean Edge am
Twite - c20
Med Gull - adult
Wigeon - c65
Snipe - 2 on Red Nab (c/f BTO challenge)
Grey Plover - 1 Red Nab (ditto)

Office
Woodpigeon 2 high SW
Pink-footed Goose 1 SW
Redwing 3 over (& 6 along Moneyclose Lane)
Bullfinch M over

Half-Moon Bay

Kingfisher - one this pm

Todays observers were: John Wood, Gavin Thomas, Malcolm Downham, Pete Marsh

Elsewhere
One Cattle Egret left the Leighton Moss roost this morning at 0745hrs. It was not possible to view the roost last night due to fog and anything roosting there would have required sophisticated homing instincts. This bird flew north, not the direction of the two previously presumed Cattle Egret, which was NE. NO Cattle Egrets located feeding anywhere today & no egrets arriving from the north into the Leighton Moss roost this evening (c20 Little Egret). Waxwings have been present at Black Dyke Road, Arnside all week and comprised 28 today. Early morning report of Waxwings from Booths at Carnforth, but nothing since. The Rough-legged Buzzard reportedly showed to a select few at various parts of Leighton Moss today. Wintering Common Sandpiper still in Conder area. 26 Waxwings flew over Galgate. 3 Scaup close inshore at Teal Bay at high tide & female Scaup remains at Freemans Pool. 46 Twite Bank End with many bearing autumn 2008 Heysham rings

Fog and foggier

Heysham Obs
Coastal birding and other activities seriously impeded today - ask Cheltenham Town FC as they trundle back down the M5 after a wasted journey & wasted energy

Red Nab
Wigeon 71
Shelduck 51
Kingfisher 1

North harbour wall
Med Gull adult
No Twite during afternoon visit

Middleton IE
2 Mute Swan, 9 Coot, 8 Moorhen, 13 Mallard, 2 Tufted Duck, 1 Pochard, 4 Teal, 3 Snipe, 21 Redwing

Observers: John Wood, Alan Draper & Malcolm Downham

Elsewhere
6 Waxwings at Carnforth Booths until at least 0915hrs, increasing to 7 in the afternoon - but often absent. 2nd W Med Pine Lake a 'new' bird. Some confirmation that the Cattle Egrets do in fact roost in situ near Whasset (in trees behind the lime kiln) and seen there & in nearby fields today, but not very cooperative for photographers.

Ringed Shag details sorted out

Heysham Obs
What is thought to be just the one ringed, long-staying, juvenile Shag was sorted out today. Thanks to all involved in this rather tortuous ring-reading process! Just in case their has been more than one bearing a ring, the limital dates when the ring was actually read are used for the 'formal' ringing details. However, a ringed juvenile Shag has been present since late August:

1426618
Ringed: Puffin Island, Anglesey Pullus (from brood of 3) 7/6/08
Read in field: Heysham Harbour area: at least 26/10/08-at least 28/11/08

This is the most regular source of ringed Shags in this area, but, as the vast majority are NOT ringed, not necessarily the main source of all records!

Harbour area (apparently crane-barge and dredger-free)
Shag - two juvs; 1 in Harbour (ringed bird) + 1 wooden jetty
Shelduck - 1 'in'
Twite - 44 south harbour wall area - including 1 yellow-ringed Duddon bird

Reserve
Jay - 2

Moths
Light-brown Apple Moth and Blastobasis adustella in the trap

Observers: John Wood, Malcolm Downham, Alan Draper

Elsewhere
Waxwing - 6 at Booths, Carnforth late afternoon, but mobile and often absent. 29 on Black Dyke Lane/Road in Arnside this afternoon (per pager). 2 Cattle Egret almost certainly seen emerging from the Leighton roost this morning - the only Egrets to fly NE - seen later in the Whasset area, but mobile e.g. seen looking south near Ackenthwaite from B6385, as well as from the Whasset-Beetham road - these are either side of the published site for the last few days

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THURSDAY 27TH NOVEMBER 2008

Middleton coverage
Heysham Obs
Coverage today by Malcolm Downham at Middleton IE
4 Pochard, 4 Teal, 3 Tufted Duck, 1 Little Grebe, 2 Snipe, 6 Mallard, 9 Coot, 4 Moorhen, 2 Mute Swan, 10 Redwing, 2 Jackdaw (one either showing characters of the N/E form or aberrant)

Elsewhere
Cattle Egrets still at Whasset area